TEGUCIGALPA , Honduras -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- He 's no Julia Child , but Honduran President Manuel Zelaya showed Tuesday he can attack a cantaloupe and U.S. government claims in a single motion .

President Manuel Zelaya chews on a slice of Honduran melon to demonstrate its safety .

`` It 's not in our fruit , '' he said about last week 's report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that some Honduran cantaloupes may be contaminated with salmonella . `` It 's not true what they are saying . Logically , we believe it is an error . ''

Then , the 55-year-old father of four asked the viewers of CNN en Español to indulge him as he engaged in a show-and-tell demonstration . `` Permit me a second , '' he said as he stretched his left arm across the tabletop and outside the view of the camera , then pulled into view a box of fruit .

`` Here I have the box of melons that we are exporting to the United States ; here are the protective bags , '' he said .

Zelaya lifted a cantaloupe from the box , placed it in front of him , then grabbed a knife and a fork .

`` Permit me to make a demonstration , '' he said , then cut open the fruit , sliced off a chunk , put it in his mouth and chewed vigorously .

`` I eat this fruit without any fear , '' he said with his mouth full . `` It 's a delicious fruit . Nothing happens to me ! ''

Though the symptoms of salmonella infection -- nausea , vomiting , fever , diarrhea and abdominal cramps -- typically do not occur for several hours after eating tainted food , the point was made .

The demonstration came three days after the FDA said it had linked 50 cases of salmonella in 16 states and nine in Canada to melons from Agropecuaria Montelibana , a grower and packer in San Lorenzo , Honduras .

Though there have been no reports of fatalities , 14 people have been hospitalized in Arizona , California , Colorado , Georgia , Illinois , Missouri , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , Ohio , Oklahoma , Oregon , Tennessee , Utah , Washington and Wisconsin , the FDA said .

While the company has continued exporting to Europe and Central America and has received no reports of illness , the daily export of 45 containers of melon to the United States has halted , a company official said Monday .

As a result , some 1,500 workers have been laid off , most of them single mothers , and company losses have exceeded $ 3 million , company officials said .

The FDA alert advised U.S. grocers , food-service operators and produce processors to remove from their stock any cantaloupes from the company .

The agency also recommended consumers throw away any cantaloupes determined to be from the company . E-mail to a friend

CNN 's Elvin Sandoval contributed to this story .

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President Manuel Zelaya says Honduran fruit has no salmonella

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To prove his point , he eats some publicly `` without any fear ''

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FDA links 50 cases of salmonella to Honduran grower

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1,500 workers laid off , grower reports losses in excess of $ 3 million